Tag: filmmaking

Hello friends. As I write this I am happily tucked into my parents cozy home in Anchorage Alaska. I was just up in the Chugiak Mountains near here taking in the lovely views of tiny Downtown Anchorage in the distance and the surrounding Cook Inlet. I hope to have some photos to share with you from this trip soon.

But the reason I’m writing today is about the upcoming free filmmaking and editing course at creativeLIVE. I’ve thrown my hat into the ring for the opportunity to be an in-studio student for the course January 14th, 15th and 16th 2013. The course will be taught by Jeff Medford and Ross Hockrow. Based on there popular CineStories trainings, the focus will be on narrative storytelling for live events and commercials. The course will stream free online. Please view and like my submission video and join me for this exciting course on the 14th.

I’ve enjoyed a number of the courses put on by creativeLIVE in the last several years. In particular the opportunity to be a student of Gale Tattersall, Lesa Snider and Skip Cohen. They provide an amazing service to the community of media content creators. You might enjoy this recent podcast from the folks at This Week in Photography where talk with creativeLIVE co-founder Chase Jarvis about the history and future of creativeLIVE.

Last year my housemate turned me on to podcasts. Since then I have become hooked myself. Podcasts are free, informative and often entertaining. Most of my podcasts relate directly to film production, writing, pre-production, post and distribution. I want to share a few with you today.

The Art of the Guillotine from founder Gordon Burkell is focused on editing and post production. Whether you are an editor, a filmmaker or just interested in the process this is a great podcast to keep you up with what professionals are thinking. In particular I recommend the three part Canadian Cinema Editors Sound Panel featuring Jane Tattersall, Mark Gingras, Jill Purdy, Steve Foster, David Hayman, and Michael Doherty C.C.E. This series delves deep into a world particularly dear to me; post production sound. In my opinion high quality post production sound is one area that separates the average production from the outstanding. You can subscribe to there podcastThe Cutting Room here oniTunes. Art of the Guillotine on Twitter

Another awesome podcast for filmmakers and fans of indie film is The Q & A with Jeff Goldsmith. Jeff has a nice personal touch while talking with top players in the world of indie film. At the same time he still always gets to the point. Recent podcasts I really enjoyed were one with Indie Director and Actor Ed Burns talking about his new film Newlyweds. Ed describes how even a filmmaker of his stature is forced to make films for nano-budgets! On the positive he also describes how this may be a sustainable business model for indie directors. Another inspiring podcast was with Pariah writer/director Dee Rees. This podcast delves deep into her creative process for that film, how she went rose from Production Assistent to Director and exciting projects she has coming up. This podcast will be particularly interesting for those interested in screenwriting, and for that film in particular. Here is a link to subscribe to Jeff’s podcast on iTunes. His work is consistently an intriguing mix of personality and theory. Here is a link to the Jeff Goldsmith Twitter feed.

My third and final podcast Simply Scripts focussed on screenwriting and the business of screenwriting. Featuring Literary Agent, Babz Bitela of Silver Bitela Agency. Babz has a charming delivery while cutting through the BS and getting to the essential elements of story telling and script marketing. I have two scripts I am finalizing right now, GI Joseph & Mary and Grand Coulee. I really appreciate Simply Scripts for the way it shares important elements of the writing process. Her is a link to subscribe to Simply Scripts on iTunes.

In 2008 Canon released the Canon EOS 5D and shortly after the Canon EOS 7D. Little did they know that these high end photography cameras would shake up the world of indie filmmaking, documentary journalism and television production. The cameras had originally been designed so that photojournalists would have the option of shooting some video while they were on location shooting stills. With sensors as large or larger then 35mm film and a vast array of high quality and low cost lenses available these cameras have quickly become very popular for creative applications. A typically “cinema camera before costs anywhere from to $35,000 and $200,000 or more. These cameras cost anywhere from $800 to $2,500 depending on the make and model. Gale Tattersall the Cinematographer of HOUSE MD and FROM EARTH to the Moon, gave a presentation on the foundation of filmmaking with these cameras at the creativeLIVE studios in Seattle on July 8th, 9th and 10th of 2011. I was fortunate enough to be one 6 students with a “golden ticket”. Please enjoy these behind the scenes and instructional photos. I think Gale can help people like me take our Cinematography to the next level.

Workshop Behind the Scene and Educational Photos Day 1
Some of the topics covered included proper camera settings for filmmaking, camera rigs including proper use of fluid head, sliders, follow focus and the glidecam. Gale described some of the complexity that went into the shooting of the season 6 finale to HOUSE “Help Me” with the 5D. Later we applied our skills with the new gear following some talented swing dancers. Please click on the image to see other photos. A full screen option is available on the lower right side of the frame.Gale Tattersall @ creativeLIVE Day 1 – Images by Michael Kleven

Workshop Behind the Scene and Educational Photos Day 2
On day 2 we got a proper introduction to lighting units and some experience lighting a Psychiatrists office in both night day and nighttime settings. Later we discussed shot selection and creative options using shallow depth of flied and camera movement to capture the complexity of a scene and to enhance it’s dramatic impact. Shooting for the edit was discussed as well. Please click on the image to see other photos from day 1. Full screen option is available in the lower right hand corner.

Gale Tattersall @ creativeLIVE Day 2 – Images by Michael KlevenWorkshop Behind the Scene and Educational Photos Day 3
Day 3 was much more hands on for me and my classmates. We discussed a number of interesting low cost lighting options for indie filmmakers. Some of which can be made at home with common materials purchased at a local hardware store. We filmed a good cop, bad cop interrogation scene and discussed ways to maintain a high level of craft and artistic integrity even when budgets are small. Gale entertained everyone with the complexity of lighting a bull ride for House at an indoor rodeo at 1600 frames per second. Gale is a very classy gentleman and a committed educator. He and his assistants Steve and Jason really brought it. The folks at creativeLIVE were super fun to work with and made sure we all had a good time while learning a bunch. They offer live feeds of their classes for free. In these days of rising education prices you can’t beet them apples. I hope to work with them more in the future.

Here is the link to the course from Gale on HDDSLR on the creativeLIVE website. They list more about the course their and information about gear used and other resources. If you have a chance check out the rest of my website. I make my living with wedding, event and portrait photography, wedding and event films. I produce commercials for small business‘ and non profits. On the creative side I am available to filmmakers as a Cinematographer, Director, Producer, AD, Production Manager or Boom Pole/Sound Recordist. Keep me busy. I love to stay busy! I am currently helping complete a short film called Reminisce. Future projects include a documentary film about an Eskimo Artist Neva Rivers and a family drama called GI Joseph and Mary.

Yesterday I posted about the new 32 mp camera phone. Upon further research I found that it is a design prototype from this Seattle company Artefact. Their point was to speculate about where pro-sumer cameras may be 3 to 5 years in the future. I think this discussion raises some interesting ideas about the future of film production & professional photography. DSLR’s are now being used for professional film production. This kind of system has the potential for easier remote control of a film production camera. Easy OS updates & the potential to develop creative/technical plug ins & apps, make this an exciting time to be involved in film production & photography. That said the Artefact Camera Futura is not going to be seen on the market any time soon. Thanks Artefact for starting a conversation.